This page is designed to give you instructions on how to run as accurate a race season as possible using your NASCAR 3 simulator. Any questions on any of the information listed on this page can be sent to Brandon Reed.

Okay, now let's get down to it..........

First thing's first......Here's the items you will need to go along with your copy of N3 to run a full, accurate season;

• An accurate 2001 carset for whichever series you wish to compete in. For the sake of this demonstration, let's say you want to run a full Winston Cup season. You can find cars at several very good sites, such as Bassman 2112, Design Tech, Aimer's Racing, and, of course, the current site you're on. But since everybody likes different things, you might find one car you like better than another, so your best bet is to mix and match from the listings you'll find in the N3 Cars section at Sim Racing Connection.
• Second, you'll need a copy of Dane Johnson's killer all-in-one utility program, NRHQ. Also, to go along with it, you'll need to establish a .sif file. This is a file that will allow you to apply skill settings to your cars through your driver's list. You can make one on your own in NRHQ to match the skill settings you prefer to race against, but a good .sif file to start with is one that's available here. Just unzip the file somewhere on your hard drive, and when you're ready to apply the settings, point NRHQ to the file. Bur more on that later.....

• Third, grab a copy of NASCAR Points Calculator by Robert Rathbone, one of the coolest utilities ever.
• Also, just for a backup, it's a good idea to have a copy of N3 Companion by Jack Duchesneau.

  Once you have all of these files on your computer, you're ready to race your season.

  Again, for the sake of argument, let's use the Winston Cup series. Here, step by step, are the instructions you will need to race a full, accurate season.

• You can begin your race weekend the same way as the Cup drivers do, and at the same time. Once qualifying is over, obtain and print out a copy of the starting line up. Usually, you can find a full run down within 20-30 minutes of the end of qualifying, at Nascar.com, That's Racin'.com, Motorsports One. If all else fails, always check Jayski's Silly Season.

  You also should obtain the weather information from qualifying, which you can find either at Weathe.comat the time of qualifying, or later in the day by doing a current conditions search at the National Weather Service.

• Start NASCAR 3. Using your print out of the qualifying results, create a new list file that mirrors real-time qualifying. Once this is done, go to the track you intend to race at. Set your weather settings to mirror the conditions during R/T qualifying.

  Practice, then qualify.

  Following qualifying, click on your "Standings" option. This will show you your sim qualifying results. Take a screen shot of the lineup using your "Print Screen" key on your keyboard. Return to the race screen.

  Click on the "Exit" option. You will be asked by the game if you wish to save the current race weekend. Say yes, and name the racesave file appropriately. (PLEASE NOTE: To be able to save the race at this point, you HAVE to make a qualifying attempt. Otherwise, it will just dump back to the race menu screen, and you've lost qualifying.)

  Exit N3.

• Back in Windows, open up your qualifying run-down screen shot using whatever program you wish to view images. Open and run NRHQ.

  On the NRHQ task bar, click on the "Sim Settings" button. This will bring up the NRHQ Settings Control window.

  On the first page, named "Race Settings", make sure that NRHQ is looking at the track you've just qualified at, and at the driver's list you have just used (both of these are seen in boxes in this window).

  At this point, you should see five tabs at the bottom of the window. The first is "Race Settings" (the area you are currently in). The others are, from left to right, "Track Settings", "Sim Options", "League Settings", and "Saved Race". These are pretty well self explanatory for changing various items in your game. What we're interested in right now is the "Saved Race" tab.

  Click on the "Saved Race" tab. This will show you the line up for the race that you've just qualified for and saved. It shows you each driver's time, as well as your own. Also, it will show you the weather settings for the saved race, the length, and the saved player race setup.

  Adjust your layout so that you can look at this window, and at the same time be able to look at the screen shot you have open at the same time. Using your print out of the R/T line up, re-arrange, by qualifying times, the saved sim lineup to match the R/T starting grid. Let's say, for example, Jeff Gordon is on the pole at the real race. Look at your screen shot, and see what the pole time in your sim qualifying was, and adjust Gordon's time in NRHQ to match it. You have just placed Jeff Gordon on the pole in your sim event. Do this all the way down the line, making sure to adjust for your starting position. For example, if you qualified in fifth position, then the R/T fifth place qualifier will be bumped back to sixth, sixth to seventh, and so on.

  Once you have completed this, click on the "Close" button, and exit the Settings Control window. This will save your adjusted line-up.

  That's it for qualifying. You have nothing more to do until race day. PLEASE NOTE: You may want to go into the track directory and back up the race save file, so that you can go back in and practice with no fear of losing your qualifying file.

  Now, let's jump forward in time to race day.......

• Once the R/T race is over, find a copy of the final rundown. Usually, you can find this within 20-30 minutes of the end of the event, at Nascar.com, That's Racin'.com, Motorsports One. If all else fails, always check Jayski's Silly Season.

  You also should obtain the weather information from the race, which you can find either at Weathe.comat the time of the start of the race, or later in the day by doing a current conditions search at the National Weather Service.

  Open the R/T rundown in your web browser. Open NRHQ. Click on the "Driver Entry List" button. Load the driver list you are using for that weekend.

  At this point you should see the full driver list that you put together on race day. Using the up and down arrows, adjust the list to mirror the final run down in the R/T race, leaving your car at the top of the list. Once this is done, go to options, choose "Apply Settings", and load the .sif file of your choice (please see explanation above for the .sif file). Click the close button. You have just adjusted the strength settings in all of these .car files to mirror the final run down, so if Ricky Rudd won the event, he will have one of the strongest, if not the strongest, car in the event.

• Click on NRHQ's "Sim Settings" button. At the race settings tab, again make sure the program is looking at the correct track and correct drivers list. Adjust your weather settings on this page to mirror the weather conditions in the R/T event. Click on the "Saved Race" tab, and adjust the saved race's weather settings to mirror the weather conditions in the R/T event.

  Click on the "Close" button, and exit NRHQ.

  Go race. Good Luck.

• Following your race, make sure to export the final results.

  Open NASCAR Points Calculator. You should have this already set-up to start a new season, named whatever you like, but set-up to the NASCAR 3 points system. Click on the "Import" button. Click on the "Add" button. Choose the exported race results of the event you've just finished. Click on the "Import" button again. Now the race you're just run should show up in the main window. From here, you can double click on each individual event to see the final run down, cautions, ect.

  Click the "Calculate" button. The program will then calculate your points standings, as well as tons of other neat info. The best thing about using this program instead of the championship season info included with the game is that this will keep up with each driver that competes in your season, and not just 43 drivers, exchanging the standings every time you change your drivers list.